What we are doing to cope with quarantine fatigue

Those who lived their prime years in the early the 20th century are known to frequently tell captivating stories of the two world wars.

Those years involved great shows of might from the warring factions, and the battles were fought on land, in the air and at sea. Now, things are a bit different.

In place of a world war, we have a global pandemic. This time, we are fighting the battle from the safety of our houses, in seclusion. To keep distance is to care.

Keeping away from those you considered close is now an act of kindness. Rather than testing your physical might, this period tests your mental health and your willpower.

This is the period millennials will talk about for decades to come. Tales from this year will someday form interesting bedtime stories for children.

This week, four young people share the experiences they’ve recorded since the first Covid-19 case was announced in Kenya and the strategies they are using to cope.

George Bange, 20, Telecommunications and Information Engineering student, JKUAT

I never thought the curfew would be enforced in the rural parts of the country, such as in Kuria, where I was when the restrictions were announced.

On the second day of the curfew, my little brother and I were almost beaten by police officers as we were just outside our gate at 7:05pm.

We were lucky to get away with a stern warning after explaining that we were returning from buying candles from the nearby shop since there was a blackout in the area.

That made me realise that we are in unusual and uncertain times. Being a third year telecommunications engineering student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, I seldom had any free time since I always had a tight schedule.

Since I joined campus, this is the first time I have spent more than one month with my family. Now that I have more free time, I have made a conscious decision to pursue my hobbies and interests.

I have been recording a few hip hop bars and sharing them with my friends. Whereas I don’t think I will ever pursue music, it does make me happy to just try it out.

Although I am not sure if I am good enough, I know I can do a freestyle to save my life if it ever comes to that.

To keep my mind engaged, in addition to helping my siblings with their studies, I have been playing and teaching chess online.

In school, I was in the chess school team and since I can’t attend physical club meetings for now, playing online is the only choice I have.

Life at home is also different now that my parents and siblings are all at home. My parents, being staunch Christians, have been leading us in prayers every evening, and giving us wise counsel about life.

We also watch the national geographic channel together as a family a lot. This free time has also made me think about my future — where I want to be and what I want to do.

One thing that scares me is the lack of job security in the country, and this has encouraged me to learn Kotlin and Java just to develop my skill set.

It is challenging to do this at home because I have to learn from PDFs and downloaded tutorials.

I wouldn’t say I am lonely during this time, but I constantly desire to reach out to others. I also seem to have caught the fitness bug and I have started lifting weights at home.

I am hoping to gain more muscles during this time. I also bought a Rubik's cube and have been practising how to solve it in under a minute.

I believe that when this is all over, I will be left wiser.

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Mumbi Macharia, 22, spoken word artist

I am a spoken word artist and I come alive whenever I am on stage.

Moving audience with my songs was the life I was accustomed to before the coronavirus pandemic plagued the country.

I will always remember March 13, 2020 as the date when Kenya plunged into a period of great uncertainty.

When they announced the first coronavirus case in Kenya and consequently the suspension of public gatherings, I was at a rehearsal for a show I was to perform the following night.

I had planned to graduate a week after that and I was scheduled to host an open mic event to showcase poetry and spoken word in the country the other week. I was devastated.

Before Covid-19, I was full of hope. I was looking forward to throwing my cap in the air during my graduation to celebrate the successful completion of my law degree.

I was also looking forward to the shows I had lined up. I had set so many goals for myself this year.

I planned to write more poems, do more live performances, do more media interviews, and ultimately take spoken word poetry to mainstream audiences.

I felt like my world had stood still. At first, social distancing was not so bad. But when your daily routine is disrupted for long, it takes a toll on you.

In the beginning you keep hoping that it will all be over soon, but then you quickly realise that perhaps things won’t ever go back to normal.

This can take a huge toll on your mental health because you may start feeling like a failure. This happened to me and I also had anxiety.

To adapt to all this, the first thing I did was to adhere to a strict sleeping schedule. I wanted to avoid staying up all night and then going to bed in the wee hours of the morning.

Taking control of my sleep schedule allows me to plan my days better.

Nowadays, I take morning walks regularly with my mask on, or I read, write and snack on healthy foods while scouring the internet for online courses.

In fact, I have finally learnt how to use the oven, and realised that baking is quite therapeutic.

I have had to learn to enjoy my own company. It sounds odd, but a lot of us don’t really like ourselves, which is insurmountably unfortunate.

I have personally taken this time to get to know myself more, and to hold myself accountable.

The first thing I’m going to do once the containment is over is to host an open mic show, and have people come perform all the poems they’ve written during this time.

Until then, I will keep envisioning what the world will look like after Covid-19, and thinking up ways of protecting the less fortunate in society.

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Karen Wairimu, 21, student, Kenyatta University

Before the coronavirus pandemic came about, I used to spend my days shuffling between one psychology class to another, and spending my free time with my close friends.

I also enjoyed attending social events and conferences, where I could learn new things, meet new people and savour the different forms of art - such as poetry and live band performances. I lost all that.

The only thing that I got to keep after the partial lockdown was announced was the joy that I found in writing my blog Classical Letters, and spending some time alone reflecting on my life and exploring new ways of being more productive.

However, all this now feels like something I have to do out of boredom.

My life has changed drastically. I no longer have a routine to follow, nor the freedom of movement, and this is really frustrating because I like being on the move.

Nowadays, I spend my days cooped up in the house. However, this has proved to be a blessing in disguise because I am now able to spend quality time with my family.

Naturally, I am a thinker. And when I spend too much time alone, I tend to imagine weird things which sometimes make me feel stressed.

I miss the company of my friends. I have realised that interactions on social media cannot replace the authenticity and thrill of one-on-one conversations.

To make my days more blissful, I have decided to filter and control the news I consume to avoid getting too upset.

I also regularly talk to my close friends and read novels to escape from reality and into a world of fantasy, where good people win and dark clouds often pass.

To lift my moods whenever I feel low, I watch lots of comedy and write on my blog. Additionally, I am also learning a new language with a group of my colleagues, and we have fortnightly meetings where we play games online and hold discussions on various topics.

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Ayan Keynan, 21, student, Strathmore University

I am the chairperson of the Kenya IT Students Association (KISA) and being in the technology sector, my life hasn’t slowed down one bit.

I have been running four webinars weekly with students from different universities. What we are trying to do is to encourage the youth to learn new skills.

Before the pandemic, my life was almost perfect. I used to run errands freely, go to university without a problem, hang out at the gazebo after classes and have brunch on weekends with my family and friends.

When a partial lockdown was enforced, I went into a state of panic. I didn’t know how I was going to cope or adjust to all these changes within such a short time.

I spent the first week trying to come to terms with what was happening around me. I now spend some afternoons cooking and trying out new recipes.

Meeting up with friends has been replaced by Skype calls, and my alone time has been replaced by family time.

We are pursuing our fitness goals together and bonding in the process. I am particularly happy about how quickly I have adapted to all this.

I finally learnt to effectively balance my professional and social life, and to have interests outside work and school.

I’m coming up with an app that can send daily inspirational quotes to students, linking them up with mentors and lecturers. I want to use my skills to improve other people’s experiences during this period.